Alimentary paste food product and methods of manufacture

ABSTRACT

The food product comprises an arrangement of parallel elongate lengths of a hollow alimentary paste product (1b) connected together. The ends (5) of the lengths constitute a first surface on one side of the arrangement and can be closed. The arrangement can be enclosed in a plastic wrapping (3) capable of withstanding cooking and provided with openings (4). In one method of manufacture, the lengths are arranged in the desired form, the flat surface is wetted and slight pressure is exerted on the sides of the assembled lengths. In another method of manufacture, an arrangement of lengths of the product (1b) is placed in a plastic wrapping (3). The food product thus formed is firm and is easily transportable after cooking. It can be eaten without implements and without mess, by holding it in the hand like a sandwich or hamburger, even if it contains sauce. It can also be used as a new form of pasta.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with an alimentary paste foodproduct, as well as with methods of manufacture of the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hamburgers and sandwiches are well-known in the field of fast foods.These products can be conveniently eaten without needing neither aplate, nor any implement, since they are held directly in the handeither wrapped or not in a napkin. They can thus be eaten withoutdifficulty even while walking.

On the other hand, alimentary paste products such as for examplespaghetti and macaroni are quite popular. To eat such alimentary pasteproducts, it is necessary to serve them in a hollow dish and to have atleast a fork. Further, the presence of the sauce makes it very difficultto eat these alimentary paste products without damaging clothes bysoiling them.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the object of this invention is to provide alimentary pasteproducts in a new form, which after cooking can be eaten without anyimplement, i.e. by holding them directly in the hand, like a sandwich ora hamburger.

An object of the invention is an alimentary paste food product,characterized in that it includes a plurality of elongate hollowparallel lengths made of alimentary paste and connected together, oneend of the lengths forming a first surface, which is preferablysubstantially planar, on one side of the food product.

Another object of the invention are methods of manufacture of thisalimentary paste food product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to tile invention, the alimentary paste food product is formedof a parallel arrangement of elongate lengths of hollow alimentary pasteconnected together. One of the ends of these lengths forms a firstsurface, which is preferably substantially planar, on one side of thefood product. In a first embodiment of the invention, said surface ofthe food product is closed by a plate of alimentary paste of the sameshape and of the same size as the arrangement.

In a second embodiment of the invention, the ends of lengths of thealimentary paste products forming the first surface, are closed on oneside.

In another version of this embodiment, the arrangement of the alimentarypaste lengths is surrounded at least partly by a plastic wrapping whichcan withstand cooking in water and which has openings.

In another version of these embodiments, the open ends of the lengths ofthe alimentary paste products form a second surface, preferably planarand parallel to the first one.

The alimentary paste food product according to the invention can beshaped into a square, a rectangular, a triangular, a polygonal or acircular configuration.

The food product can be formed in a hexagonal configuration. In thiscase, it includes at least 17 lengths of alimentary paste, with eachside of the hexagon being comprised of 3 lengths of alimentary paste. Inanother version, the hexagonal food product includes 37 lengths ofalimentary paste, each side of the hexagon being comprised in this caseof 4 lengths of alimentary paste. In another version, it includes 61lengths of alimentary paste, each side of the hexagon being comprised inthis case of 5 lengths of alimentary paste. It can also include 91lengths of alimentary paste, each side of the hexagon being thencomprised of 6 lengths of alimentary paste.

These lengths can consist of small cylindrical macaronis having acircular, oval or polygonal cross-section, and having a length whichranges preferably from 1 to 4 cm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The appended drawings illustrate by way of example two embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the food product according to the firstembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view at 45° of the food product according to thesecond embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the food product according to the secondembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a hexagonal arrangement of 61 small macaronis 1a placedparallel to one another and having all a height of 3 cm. The ends of themacaronis form two surfaces which are substantially planar and parallel.One of the two surfaces of the food product is closed by a thinhexagonal plate 2 made of alimentary paste of the same dimension.

FIG. 2 shows a rectangular arrangement of macaronis 1b, placed parallelto one another in a plastic wrapping 3. This wrapping 3 has openings 4.The ends 5 of the macaronis form the first surface, which issubstantially planar, are closed. The open end of the macaronis forms asecond surface, preferably planar and parallel to the first one.

FIG. 3 shows the same arrangement as that shown in FIG. 2, butunwrapped. One can see in this perspective view, that each macaronilocated inside the structure is in contact with 6 other macaronis.

A method for the preparation of the alimentary paste food productaccording to the invention consists in assembling in a parallel mannerand in a selected configuration, the selected number of lengths ofmacaronis, in slightly wetting at least one of the ends of the lengthsand then in exerting a slight and equal pressure on all the sides of theselected configuration. Actually, when one wets one end of the lengthsof the alimentary paste food products, this moisture rises bycapillarity along the generating lines of contact between adjoininglengths. After drying, the food product is monolithic, with the lengthsadhering together. An alimentary paste food product is then obtainedwhich holds together because of the slight wetting of the planarsurface. The wetting can be carried out by spraying water.

In the case of the end of the lengths of macaronis forming the firstplanar surface not being closed, one can close the planar surface of thefood product obtained by applying the planar surface to be closedagainst a plate of freshly made alimentary paste, slightly wetted,pressing the food product against said plate, cutting the plate of freshalimentary paste to the same size and dimensions as the food product anddrying the assembly or cooking the same immediately. If the macaronisare already dry and are subjected to a second drying, this has noincidence on the quality of the product.

The food product obtained after drying holds well together and isreadily transportable. Should the ends of the lengths form two parallelsurfaces, the storing of the food products is most convenient since theycan be placed against one another and one on top of the other withoutany risks of breakage.

The manufacture of the food product surrounded by a plastic wrapping canconsist in arranging parallel to one another lengths of alimentary pastewhich are either dried free or bound together by wetting them slightly,placing them into a wrapping of a selected shape made of a plasticmaterial which can withstand cooking and in closing the wrapping.

This wrapping should have a sufficient number of openings, so thatduring the cooking in boiling water, the latter may ingress readily.This wrapping must be accurately dimensioned relative to the alimentarypaste food product, so that the openings allow the ingress of a maximumamount of water and that the alimentary paste may swell during cooking,but without being large to the extent of allowing a macaroni to fall outfrom the arrangement at the begining or in the course of cooking andrender its structure unstable.

The dry alimentary paste food product is used for the preparation of analimentary paste food product which can be eaten directly.

The preparation of a product which can be eaten from the paste foodproduct according to the invention is the same as for any other form ofpasta. To obtain a product of the desirable crispness, the cooking musthowever be extended in principle by comparison with that of alimentarypastes when they are not assembled.

The food product can also be precooked and reheated briefly at the lastmoment.

In the case of the first planar surface of the food product beingclosed, whether by a plate of alimentary paste or because the end of thelengths of alimentary paste are closed, a process for the preparation ofthis food product which is particularly advantageous, consists incooking the dry alimentary paste food product in a boiling cookingliquid, removing it from the cooking liquid, draining it, laying it flatand then in introducing sauce at least into some of the hollow lengthsof alimentary paste. The introduction of the sauce can be performedeither by pouring the sauce on the surface of the non closed foodproduct, either by means of a machine having at the most a number ofoutlets for the sauce equal to that of the lengths of the alimentarypaste. This process makes it possible to obtain an alimentary paste foodproduct which can be eaten directly, with an implement or without.

In the case of the food product being enclosed in a wrapping, thecooking is carried out as previously by direct immersion of the wrappedfood product into boiling water and removing partly or totally thewrapping before introducing the sauce.

These methods of preparation are particularly well suited for the fastfood market.

The cooking of the macaronis located at the center of the food productis facilitated by the fact that the contact surface between each lengthis extremely small and allows the penetration of water inside thestructure of the food product. In the case of a dry alimentary paste,the duration of the cooking, which is usually of 10 to 15 minutes, musthowever be extended to at least 20 minutes to obtain products of therequired crispness.

The horizontal structure of this food product is possible for thefollowing reasons. Firstly, the macaronis located in the middle of thefood product are circular in shape when dry, but become practicallyhexagonal after cooking, which accordingly confers a good stability tothe structure. The stability of the food product is also dependent uponthe height of the alimentary paste product. However, the height of thealimentary pastes after cooking should be such that the food product caneasily be eaten. The plate of alimentary paste closing the planarsurface of the food product makes it possible to further increase thestability of the assembly. When the food product is eaten, the macaronisare easily detached. This food product is in particular designed to beeaten like a hamburger or a sandwich.

The food product according to the invention can also be used as a newform of pasta which after cooking can be easily taken out from thecooking liquid and easily drained.

The invention has now made it possible to prepare an alimentary pastefood product which after cooking can be eaten without any implement,i.e. which can be held in the hand as a sandwich or a hamburger. Thealimentary paste products can easily be removed one by one from the foodproduct and the presence of sauce causes no problem, even when the foodproduct is eaten while walking. These alimentary pastes are particularlywell suited for the fast food market.

We have described above how an alimentary paste food product can beobtained by assembling lengths of hollow alimentary paste laid side byside and bound together by wetting.

One can obviously obtain the alimentary paste food product described inany other manner, for example by extruding simultaneously hollow tubesof alimentary paste through a single die, holding the extruded tubestogether during their wetting and their bonding, and finally cuttingthem to obtain food products of the desired height. These food productscan then be placed on a plate of freshly made alimentary paste andbonded thereto in order to close one of their surfaces.

One can also obtain such alimentary paste food products by molding witha mold of an appropriate shape.

In another version of the alimentary paste food product according to theinvention, and whatever may be the process used for its obtention,lengths of alimentary paste products can be connected by ribs ofalimentary paste connecting the surfaces of adjoining lengths. Thus, thesize of the voids between the parallel lengths of alimentary paste ofthe food product is increased, which is favourable for a fast cooking,in particular when the length of the alimentary paste products have apolygonal cross-section.

I claim:
 1. An alimentary paste food product comprising an arrangementof parallel hollow elongate lengths of tubes of alimentary paste havinga substantially circular cross-section, said tubes being connected toone another by outgrowing flanges of alimentary paste to form asubstantially hexagonal structure, the arrangement having asubstantially planar upper and lower surface, the lower surface beingclosed by a plate of alimentary paste of the same form as thearrangement, the tubes being intended to be filled with a sauce.
 2. Analimentary paste food product according to claim 1, wherein thearrangement has a geometrical shape selected from the group consistingof square, rectangular, triangular, polygonal and circular.
 3. Analimentary paste food product according to claim 2, wherein thearrangement is of a hexagonal shape and includes at least 17 tubes ofalimentary paste products.
 4. An alimentary paste food product accordingto claim 1, wherein the tubes of alimentary paste products are smallmacaronis having a circular cross-section and a length ranging from 1 to4 cm.
 5. An alimentary paste food product according to claim 1, whereinthe arrangement of the tubes of alimentary paste products is at leastpartly surrounded by a plastic wrapping which can withstand cooking inwater and which has openings.
 6. A method of manufacture of analimentary paste food product which comprises:placing a selected numberof tubes of alimentary paste products parallel to one another in aselected configuration, wetting at least ends of the tubes forming afirst surface of the arrangement, and exerting a light pressure whichtends to press the tubes against one another, for their assembling.
 7. Amethod of manufacture according to claim 6, further including applyingthe first surface of the arrangement on a plate of alimentary pastewhich is slightly wetted, pressing the arrangement on said plate, theplate being cut so as to have the same shape and the same dimension asthe arrangement, and thereafter drying the assembly.
 8. A method ofmanufacture according to claim 6, further including placing thearrangement of tubes of alimentary paste products having the selectedconfiguration dry inside a plastic wrapping.
 9. A method of manufactureaccording to claim 6, further comprising cooking the arrangement in aboiling cooking liquid, removing the arrangement from the cookingliquid, draining and laying it flat, and introducing sauce at least insome of the tubes of alimentary paste.
 10. A method of manufactureaccording to claim 8, further comprising cooking the arrangement in aboiling cooking liquid, removing the arrangement from the cookingliquid, draining and laying it flat, and introducing sauce at least insome of the tubes of alimentary paste.